Re: Wholesale performance parts!

[trnsfrma@ix.netcom.com (Shawn C. Meze)]

At 01:04 AM 3/18/97 -0500, you wrote:

> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> 
> Hey everyone! I am sending this out so i can get some feed back on the
> following idea.  I want to set up a "club" for all you performance
> enthusiasts... for now because this idea is in the beta stages it will
> be only for VW's, if this apeals to anyone, it will be later open up to
> any import enthusiast.  I have a friend who has been in the performance
> industry for quite sometime. He has just opened a performance shop here
> in BC, Canada.  He will be the major sponsor for this "idea" i have, but
> hopefully, through his MANY connections with other company's, if the
> club becomes of interest to anyone, other company's will decide to come
> in. 


The first thing you need to consider is competition. Right now there is a huge 
amount of competition in this market. Taging onto a current "shop" is a novel 
idea, but why not the shop be the club instead of having a middleman? (You) Im 
not picking on you, just being realistic about your questions while answering, on 
your request. 


> MY IDEA 
> 
> I want to form sort of a new VW club. İLocally here in BC would probably
> be ideal for most people;


I disagree. Most people *dont* live in BC for the scale your talking about. For 
someone who is trying to initialize a club for "everyone", you are already 
aleinating people. Start off small, locally in BC and if the popularity of your 
club grows and there is a demand for it, expand your chapter into a new town, 
country. Like that, see?

Another point is that most people like to get together in clubs (for the most 
part) so somebody in florida might not want to make the trek up to Canada for 
one. Another problem is shipping your parts to customers in the good ol' U.S. of 
friggin' "A". It might take much longer than most merkinz wanna wait for the 
parts. For example, they mighty opt for buying parts from a more local location 
like Velocity or Strictly, depending on the coast they're on. .........That kind 
of thing.  


>  however, it is open to people with VW's
> anywhere.  With this club a fee (of some unknown amount right now) will
> be charged to join, and with that membership fee the following would be
> included (these are just a few ideas):
> 
> T-Shirts 
> Stickers 
> Licence Plate frames 
> bi-monthly newsletter 
> cash coupons for parts at my friends shop 
> gatherings/cruises
> the ability to get wholesale pricing for performance parts for your
> project car 


Whatever gimmic will work as far as what to include in your above list. Sometimes 
nothing is good too.  Thats got to be up to you tho.  


> My friend is very well connected and well versed in this industry like i
> said.  He will do price matching, so if you guys wanna test me out, just
> email me with a list of parts and prices and i will bet you i can beat
> the pricing. 
 

Im curious as to how you are gonna profit from this? Your friend is gonna pay a 
price, has to charge a % to make a profit and then you resale it to the public or 
are you simply the customer director? (Will send potential customers to him) 
 

> I can get just about ANYTHING you could imagine.  SPAX, Neuspeed (he is
> very good friends with Aaron Neuman), Jamex, Remus, SuperSprint, Genie,
> Schrick... ANYTHING 


So can most everyother club/speedshop/indipendant aftermarket parts dealer. What 
can you offer the VW enthusiast that nobody else can? Thats the key......

 

> PS. I would just like to add that we are in the process of making a
> price list, so until it is finished i won't be able to get back to you
> right away with prices... however; just email me, and i will get back to
> you as soon as possible... (march 17/97)


Just a thought, but if I lived in BC, why would I buy from you, if I could buy it 
cheaper from your buddy? 




Shawn
(Playing the role of, "Devils Advocate")
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